János-Csongor Kerekes via Compfight
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by your thoughts or emotions?
If so, try practicing mindfulness. What is it?
Mindfulness is an amazing practice of observing without attachment.
This technique helps stop a racing mind, obsessive thoughts and feelings of anxiousness. Whether running late and stuck in traffic or dealing with family stress, you can use this technique anywhere and anytime.
Once you feel comfortable with the basic steps, you can expand your skill by using the techniques in other ways.
5 Simple Steps to Mindfulness:
- Find something around you to focus on.
- Observe what you see.
- Describe only the facts (I see a black clock, the clock has a white background, the clock has numbers 1 through 12, the clock has a second hand, etc)
- Describe in detail what you see without judgment (judgment is emotion based, positive or negative; something that people may not agree on i.e. ugly, favorite, delicious , stinky)
- Continue until anxiousness or racing thoughts pass.
When engaging the logical part of the brain, it moves you out of your emotional mind. This is a great technique when you need to calm yourself down to think more rationally and make better choices.
However, it’s important to deal with your feelings. Once you are able to become more objective, take the opportunity to process your feelings and work through what caused your reaction.
Once you are able to use the basic skill of mindfulness, you can expand your practice.
Other ways you can use mindfulness include:
- Observing food preparation and eating
- People watching
- Observing the changing landscape
- Observing your own reactions without attachment. (more advanced skill)
- Meditation
- Guided Visualization
When you are able to simply notice how you react to situations, you increase your self-awareness and ability to respond. Mindfulness also enhances your overall experience.
Have fun practicing and living more mindfully in all areas life.
xoxo
Angela, The Goddess Next Door